FID – Chapter 611

Chapter 611: Equivalent to Offending Half of the Nanling Kingdom

Chen Xiuying felt her heart sink as she listened to this.

If she couldn’t borrow the money, she wouldn’t be able to explain herself when she returned home.

Just the outfits for the two nieces alone had cost the family all their savings, and they had even borrowed a few taels of silver from outside.

When she returned home, if she couldn’t come up with the money to fill in those gaps, she wouldn’t have an easy time in the Yang family in the future.

Chen Xiuying’s heart was filled with anxiety, and she paced back and forth in the room, unable to come up with a solution.

“Enough, stop pacing around. You’re making me dizzy. Instead of wandering aimlessly, why not think of a plan? Didn’t you bring two nieces with you? Tell them to be clever. With their good looks, why don’t they have any brains? They’re always trailing behind us. How could Zhiqiu possibly notice them? 

Right now, there’s only one way left. As long as they have the ability to catch Zhiqiu’s eye, we’ll never have to worry about money again. Those two old folks in the Liu family won’t even care about their own grandson?”

Chen Xiuying’s eyes immediately lit up.

She was right. Even without mentioning the two elders from the Liu family, Liu Zhiqiu had money of his own.

He managed several wine workshops by himself, and it was said that he handled all the delivery and payment collection on his own. How could he not have silver in his pocket? 

His monthly salary alone was probably enough to match what an ordinary family would earn in an entire year.

With this thought, Chen Xiuying turned and walked to the other side of the guest room to find the two Yang sisters.

She stayed in their room for quite a while. The door was tightly closed, and no one knew what was being said inside.

When she emerged from the room, her expression had lightened considerably.

The four of them, completely unaware, had no idea that all their conversations and secret talks had been overheard by someone in the guest room.

Wei Hong was lying in her own room, her face expressionless, yet she unusually rolled her eyes.

She hadn’t intentionally eavesdropped, but as a shadow guard, it had become second nature for her to monitor her surroundings. When there was any noise, she automatically included it in her surveillance.

As a result, she had overheard the entire conversation between Wang-shi, Chen Xiuying, and the two Yang sisters.

It was not that she looked down on country people, but in her opinion, these two country women were as stupid as pigs.

They could only act recklessly in the countryside. If they were in the backcourts of a wealthy household, they would be nothing but cannon fodder, too stupid to be saved.

She didn’t even need to warn Nannan in advance. There was no challenge in it.

She just had to sit back, cross her legs, and watch them dig their own graves.

By the time morning passed, Liu Zhiqiu and the Erlin couple had gone to the Xinghua Ridge to tend to the medicine fields, while the Dalin couple went to the medicinal fields by the Qing River. 

Liu Yusheng, Qian Wanjin, and Shi Xianrou had gathered to discuss matters regarding the wine workshop.

“Recently, the village chiefs from each village have reported on the situation with the workers. The damage caused by the flood was too great. Many workers’ families were affected by the disaster, and they relied on the wages from returning to work to support their lives. However, they couldn’t afford to repair the houses that were damaged by the flood. 

A few days ago, several village chiefs came to me, asking if I could make an exception and advance the monthly wages for workers whose homes were severely damaged so they could fix their houses and at least have a place to live.”

Liu Yusheng slapped her forehead. “This was my oversight. The workers at the new wine workshop didn’t have much time to work before the flood hit, so they probably don’t have much savings. Unlike our Xinghua Village, where everyone can pull out a decent sum.”

She paused for a moment, then said, “Here’s the plan. Tomorrow, I’ll send word to the village chiefs that families in need can take their monthly wages in advance from the wine workshop to help them get through this difficult time. The owed amount will be deducted from their monthly wages until it’s fully paid off.”

Qian Wanjin nodded. “That’s what I was thinking too. This way, they can get through the tough times, and they’ll be more grateful to the wine workshop, increasing their loyalty. This is better for us and the business. I’ll make the announcement after lunch.”

“Great. Now that we’re back up and running, the winery is just getting back on track. The materials aren’t complete, and the wine supply isn’t fully consistent. We still have a lot of orders pending. We need to speed up collecting the raw materials and at least fulfill those orders first.”

“I’ve already instructed the people under the Qian family to take care of it. We should have news in a few days. Don’t worry, it’s not a big issue. Besides, those we do business with know that Yunzhou suffered a disaster, so they won’t deliberately make things difficult for us. 

If it really comes down to it, and they insist on causing trouble, we can just pay the penalty for breaching the contract. But in that case, they’ll be blacklisted, and we won’t do business with them in the future. So, when weighing the pros and cons, no one would do that.”

Shi Xianrou also said, “The Xinghua Village winery is not what it used to be. The people backing it now are all influential figures. Businesspeople value harmony for profit and also emphasize connections. Offending the owner of the Xinghua Village winery is like offending half of the Nanling Kingdom. It’s not in anyone’s interest, so no one would do something so reckless.”

Isn’t that exactly the case?

The current Xinghua Village winery has the support of the King of Nanling, the current young emperor, the governor of Yunzhou, and even the Qian family, which has just risen to become the richest family in Nanling.

No one, whether in terms of power or influence, could rival them. Other businesses are eager to please the owner of the Xinghua Village winery and wouldn’t dream of offending them.

It was a surefire way to court death.

“Our winery has plenty of tea materials. The tea gardens from the Liu family in the capital—my father took them all in one go. Now, we’re the largest tea merchant in Nanling. But with this, the production of nourishing tea will increase, and there might be delays in sales.” Speaking about the current bottleneck, Qian Wanjin asked Liu Yusheng, “Nannan, do you have any good ideas?”

Nannan could usually provide him with answers when he asked her about the areas he couldn’t think of. And often, he felt something like a sudden burst of enlightenment. It also broadened his perspective.

Liu Yusheng smiled, “There are only so many wealthy families in our Nanling, and tea can’t be used up immediately if it’s not sold. It’s inevitable that there will be sales delays. But the mainland is not just our Nanling Kingdom. If other countries’ silk fabrics can be sold to us, why can’t our tea be sold to their countries? We can’t just let them make all the money.”

Qian Wanjin and Shi Xianrou were silent for a while, then Qian Wanjin suddenly hugged Shi Xianrou. “Ah, I knew Nannan would have a solution! How did I not think of selling the tea across the border?! Oh my, not just me—I’m sure even my old man never thought of it!”

It wasn’t that they were afraid to think of it, but the old mindset had always been limited to within the Nanling Kingdom. They never had the awareness or the vision to look further.

Nannan really was his guiding light!